-05-23 19:49 MARTIN LEE'S CHAMBERS
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right of peaceful assembly contained in Article 18 of the Bill
of Rights and Article 21 of the ICCPR."
also
The summonses coincide with a refusal by the Government to allow a church group to hold a meeting in Queen Elizabeth Stadium
commemorating the June 4 massacre. as if the Hong Henry
Premarked, "18 actively seeking to discourageor
1.
Hong
Such action is
and prevent peassatis commemoration of same consistent with the Hong Kong Government's promise to the PRC--
contained in an October 1989 letter from the Political Advisor
to the Hong Kong branch of the New China News Agency (the defacto
PRC embassy in Hong Kong) --that the Government has no intention
of allowing Hong Kong to be used
activities against the PRC.
as a base for subversive
In that letter, the Government pointed to arrests of certain
protesters outside of the NCNA and its refusal to allow for "a
permanent site for a replica statute of democracy" as evidence
of its "prudent regard" for the "interests and concerns of the
Chinese Government." Mr. Lee stated, "The charges laid against
four democracy leaders repeat this
this extremely disturbing
decision of the Hong Kong Government to place the concerns of the
Chinese Government supreme over human rights and freedom of
expression in Hong Kong.'
the four
H
Determined to preserve freedom of expression in Hong Kong,
at least some of the four leaders of the United Democrats, if
convicted, will refuse to pay fines a under a statute that
violates the ICCPR and the Bill of Rights. Rather, they call on
the Government to rescind all such statutes immediately and to
be far more vigilant in its protection of human rights between